Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Our first 5 days and a huge answered prayer!!

Well, we are just starting our 6th day in Japan. We’ve
been in Japan 5 full days now, and in many ways, it feels like an eternity. How
have we only been here 5 days? So many emotions, experiences, and events have
been jammed packed into these 5 days. You know those luggage compression bags
for clothes? The ones where you can stuff all your clothes into an oversized
Ziploc bag and then push out all the air to compress it…literally, every inch
of space is used. That is what our time in Japan has been like…stuffed full of
joys, challenges, new experiences, and adventures. I don’t know where to begin.

We are sleeping now. Let’s begin there. Because that is
making a huge difference. The first 4 nights, nobody slept past 4:00am. And at
least one kid would wake up between midnight and 3:00 every hour. We were so
exhausted. But, there were so many things we had to get done, so our days were
full. We literally only have futon mattresses on the floor…and nothing else.

So with 3 crazy tired children, and 2 exhausted zombie
parents, we have walked, biked, rode trains, subways, walked, ran, and walked
across this city to get things done. It is difficult getting used to not having
a car. It is difficult not knowing how to communicate or read signs. Although
it has been difficult, it has been good. We are learning that just because
things are difficult, does not mean we have to avoid them. We are learning that
we are able to do far more than we thought we could do. We are learning what
relying on God truly means. Right smack in the heart of difficult, I can say
confidently that we are full of joy. We are so blessed and honored to be here.
We are so hopeful for what God is going to do.

And what he has already done.

Yesterday, God answered a prayer of ours that we have prayed
as a family for over 6 months. We visited our local Japanese elementary school
with Paul, our Japanese translator and new friend. We were truly blown away. We
have heard from many other families that an American child going to a Japanese
school is not common, and that most Japanese schools would not be accommodating
at all to a foreigner. Literally, that is what we heard from every person we
talked to.

But, through prayer, we have felt that Hannah is ready to go
into Japanese public school. She has a strong child-like faith, she is ahead a
full grade, and we want her to speak Japanese and have Japanese friends. We
have hoped this would be a way for us to meet Japanese families and be involved
in our community.

Although we were told it was unlikely to happen, we started
to pray months ago. We prayed two things specifically almost every night: 1.
That the principal at our local elementary school would be friendly, and 2.
That there would be someone there that speaks English.

So we walked up to the school yesterday. It is one of the
oldest schools in the city. It was damaged in World War II, but kept going. As
soon as we walked in the doors we were greeted by the principal. He had a huge
smile on his face and led us to a meeting room. The brought us tea and everyone
we saw had such big smiles on their face. We were shocked by their hospitality.
Soon, we found ourselves sitting in a room with the principal and another lady.
They started talking to Paul in Japanese and we had no clue what they were saying.
I was praying that Abigail and Josiah would not do something crazy. Abigail
spilled her tea. I think I cleaned it before they noticed.

They kept talking. Katharine and I were on the edges of our
seats. Finally Paul told us in English what they were saying. First, they would
LOVE to have Hannah join their school. Secondly, that Japanese lady sitting
across from us is a “foreign student specialist” and is at the school 4 out of
5 days a week. She speaks English but has not had an English speaking student to
help. She told us she is eager to work with Hannah. She asked us if it was ok
to personally tutor Hannah in Japanese. That while the other kids are in
geography class, that she would take Hannah aside and teach her Japanese. One
hour every day.

With tears in our eyes, we sat in that room and realized
that God answered our prayers. In a mighty way he answered our prayers. A
friendly principal and an English speaker. Our God is a God that answers
prayers.

The last thing they gave us was a list of families that live
in our apartment complex that go to Hannah’s school. You know, so we could meet
them and walk with them to school everyday. We could not make this up. We left
rejoicing, and as we walked out the door, Hannah was greeted by some fellow 1st
graders. They loved Hannah. She was a bit shy, but she warmed up to them and
said “Konichiwa.” They all screamed and Paul told us they were screaming, “she
speaks Japanese.” Hannah keeps saying she is excited to start school and learn
Japanese.

So, we are honored to announce that starting Monday morning
June 30th, Hannah will be a student at Chihada Elementary School. Please pray
for our sweet Hannah as she will be a little missionary in that school. She will be the only English speaker in her school. It is
not going to be easy, in fact, it will be very difficult.

But we are learning that just because things are difficult,
that does not mean we have to avoid them.

Thank you for your prayers, for your encouraging words, and
for your support of our family. We know that as we descend into the pit, that
we have people holding the ropes. Thank you for holding the ropes for our
family. You are very much a part of all that God is doing here. Let’s rejoice
together at what he has done and eagerly hope for what he will do in Japan.

Hannah meeting fellow 1st graders for the very first time.

Everyone fast asleep while Katharine shops for furniture.

Lost on the side of the road with 50 pound bags of curtains. Not one of our finest moments. Thank God for new phones with GPS.

Getting our new phones. Only a 3 hour process!

Josiah fast asleep as Matt shops for appliances.

We purchased appliances and it was quite the experience! We think we got everything correctly, and our appliances should be delivered on Friday!

Hannah and Abigail with a new friend at church.

A kid's snack in Japan.

Lots and lots of train and subway riding!

And lots of walking and taking little breaks to enjoy onigiri and other little Japanese snacks.

4 comments:

Beautiful news! I am thankful to read about all that you are experiencing. Slightly jealous to be honest :) Laura and I are excited to begin to new adventures soon as well. Love you guys and cannot wait to come visit you someday. Will continue to pray.